Month: May 2022

The Morrison Government will invest $50 million to create a new business and research partnership with Deakin University, creating 1,100 jobs over the next five years.

Deakin University will work with 21 industry partners, including 16 small businesses, and 7 higher education providers, to accelerate ideas into innovative, sustainable manufacturing solutions in the hydrogen and recycling industries.

The project aims to create more than 60 new products, 100 patents and more than 1,100 new jobs

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Deakin University is the fourth Trailblazer to receive funding through the Trailblazer program which is designed to focus Australia’s considerable research power on Australia’s National Manufacturing Priorities.

“Our economic plan is supercharging Australia’s research and development, creating more jobs and helping to build a strong economy and a stronger future,” the Prime Minister said.

“We are investing in new clean technology that will create more jobs in Melbourne by backing in Victoria’s best and brightest talent.”

Minister for Regionalisation, Regional Communications and Regional Education Bridget McKenzie said the project will have a significant impact for regions across Australia.

“This is a research commercialisation project that will directly benefit regional Australia by ensuring our hydrogen and recycling industries are strong, efficient and reliable,” Minister McKenzie said.

“The Trailblazer investment is an important component of the Government’s $2 billion Regional Accelerator Program announced in the recent 2022 Budget, which is designed to drive economic growth and jobs in regional Australia.”

Acting Minister for Education and Youth Stuart Robert said Deakin University and its partners have promised more than $320 million in co-investment, matching public funding by 6 to 1.

“The co-investment of industry partners, and especially by the 16 partner small businesses, shows that Australian industry is hungry to collaborate with universities to unleash a new wave of technology and innovation,” Minister Robert said.

“This project will help harness the cutting-edge clean energy research being done in our top universities, including in hydrogen, to create more jobs for Australians.

“This Trailblazer funding means more jobs right here in Australia, a stronger research and development sector and a stronger economy.”

Deakin University is the fourth successful Trailblazer to be announced. They were selected as a Trailblazer from a two-stage competitive assessment process where universities were required to submit expressions and interest and then more detailed business cases.

The Morrison Government has invested $362 million in the Trailblazer Universities program – an initial $243 million announced in November last year and an additional $119 million through our Regional Accelerator Program announced on Budget night. This is part of the Government’s $2.2 billion University Research Commercialisation Action Plan, which will focus the considerable research power of our universities on Australia’s National Manufacturing Priorities.

The Morrison Government understands that resilient supply chains underpin Australia’s prosperity, resilience and national security.

Amid the ongoing effects of the pandemic, war in Europe, natural disasters and rising geopolitical tensions, the Morrison Government is acting to secure resilient supply chains for Australia.

Our expanded Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, backed by an investment of $324 million, underpins Australia’s prosperity, resilience and national security.

We will invest $15 million in a monitoring support mechanism, ensuring Australia is better able to forecast upcoming shocks to our supply chain systems.

This funding includes $4 million to enhance CSIRO’s Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT) to model critical domestic transport supply chains, backing in the Morrison Government’s record $120 billion investment in infrastructure including essential projects such as the Inland Rail and Melbourne and Brisbane Intermodals.

Australia’s Chief Scientist will also be commissioned to develop, in consultation with researchers and industry, a Strategic National Plan for Semiconductors to address current and future supply.

As part of the launch of our supply chain resilience policy, the Morrison Government will also invest more than $27 million for 18 projects under round two of the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. The funding will support projects that secure Australia’s supply chains through the local manufacture of semiconductors that drive our tech devices and water treatment chemicals that keep our water clean.

Under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative, the Morrison Government will also provide $53 million to design and construct a state-of-the-art animal health vaccine research and manufacturing facility, set up an Australian Animal Health and Manufacturing Innovation Hub and ensure supply of vital animal health products.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said these investments were a crucial part of the Government’s plan to secure Australia’s economic recovery and build a stronger future.

“Securing our supply chains is a fundamental part of keeping Australia stronger and more secure,” the Prime Minister said.

“The strength of our supply chains matter because they affect every single part of our economy.

“We make things in Australia and we make them well – our supply chains are the backbone of our manufacturing industry and that’s why my Government will always invest in strengthening them.”

Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction Angus Taylor said the Morrison Government was working with Australian businesses to address supply chain vulnerabilities and ensure that critical services and supplies are maintained.

“The world has become a more uncertain, less stable place – our geopolitical landscape is rapidly evolving,” Minister Taylor said.

“The COVID-19 pandemic, war in Ukraine and managing rising trade tensions with China have showed us the importance of our supply chains and having manufacturing capability here at home.

“Our investments not only shore up our supply chain resilience, but they also build our resilience to future shocks.”

Further details of investments:

$15 million for a Supply Chain Monitoring Support

• $4.3 million to enhance the CSIRO Transport Network Strategic Investment Tool (TraNSIT) to model domestic transport supply chains identified as critical and develop resiliency metrics and a dynamic scenario planning capability with data on domestic supply chain logistics.
• $1.3 million to commission the Chief Scientist to develop a Strategic National Plan for Semiconductors to address current and future supply.
• $10 million to better map and monitor critical supply chains and proactively identify vulnerabilities before they arise, by increasing the capacity of the CSIRO, the Office of Supply Chain Resilience and the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources to provide the ‘early warning mechanisms’ for emerging supply chain issues.

$27.3 million for 18 Semiconductor and water treatment chemical SCRI grants

• $27.3 million for 18 successful semiconductor and water treatment chemicals projects under Round 2 of the SCRI to support projects.
• Increase the size of grants available under future rounds of the SCRI (from $2 million to up to $20 million) to support larger, strategically important projects.

$53 million for an Australian Animal Health and Manufacturing Innovation Hub

• $53 million under the MMI Collaboration Stream to Zoetis Australia to design and construct a state of the art animal health vaccine research and manufacturing facility, set up an Australian Animal Health and Manufacturing Innovation Hub and ensure supply of vital animal health products.

Today, the Coalition releases our plan for protecting our borders.

A re-elected Coalition Government will ensure Australia’s borders remain safe and secure by:

• Maintaining Operation Sovereign Borders: the strong and proven policy that saves lives, and tackles people smuggling and irregular migration.
• Sustaining the three vital pillars of our border policies: regional processing, boat turn-backs where it is safe to do so and temporary protection visas.
• Continuing to take a hard line stance against non-citizen criminals: by cancelling or refusing the visas of those who commit serious crimes, and strengthening the grounds for doing so.
• Providing support for genuine refugees: continue to deliver one of the world’s most generous humanitarian programs, in addition to providing 31,500 places for those displaced by the Afghanistan crisis.
• Boosting front line border staff: to stop drugs, weapons and other illegal goods from entering our shores.

Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews said Labor’s promise to abolish temporary protection visas, a key pillar of Operation Sovereign Borders, demonstrated the clear choice at this election between strong borders and weak borders.

“Make no mistake, a change of government means a change to Australia’s strong border protection policies,” Minister Andrews said.

“The Coalition’s strong border policies stopped the boats, ending deaths at sea and the illegal trade of people smuggling.

“When the last Labor Government dismantled our strong and effective border policies, lives were lost, chaos erupted and thousands of children were locked up in detention.”

A re-elected Morrison Government will also pass new laws to charge foreign criminals for the cost of their own immigration detention.

Immigration Minister Alex Hawke said weak laws passed by Labor in 2009 meant every criminal’s detention – other than people smugglers and illegal foreign fishers – was a burden to taxpayers.

“Because of changes Labor made last time they were in government, murderers and drug dealers are getting a free ride courtesy of the taxpayer – and that ends if the Morrison Government is re-elected,” Minister Hawke said.

“We are reversing Labor’s weak laws because we don’t believe foreign criminals deserve free rent, food and medical treatment while we go through the process of deporting them.

“We have cancelled or refused visas to over 10,000 serious criminals through our reforms to the Character Test and as we go through the process of deporting even more, the free ride they are getting now ends.”

This follows revelations that Chris Bowen, Brendan O’Connor and Tony Burke released 503 individuals who had, or went on to have, criminal convictions for, amongst other things violent crimes (213), sexual crimes (58), child sex offences (40) and serious drug offences (72).

Labor released these people without proper checks and without considering the risk to the community because they lost control of our borders – and that’s the risk under Anthony Albanese.

Afghan women and girls make enormous contributions to their country. Achieving peace, stability and economic development requires their equal participation in shaping Afghanistan’s future.

We remain deeply concerned by the continued restrictions on girls’ access to education in Afghanistan, and call on the Taliban to respect the right to education and adhere to their commitments to reopen schools for all female students.

We are deeply disappointed about escalating restrictions imposed by the Taliban that impact on the human rights of Afghan women.

The Taliban’s directive that women and girls must cover themselves in public and leave home only in cases of necessity, and with a man, restricts their universal and inalienable human rights. We deplore that family members could be punished to enforce compliance with these restrictions.

Afghan women should be free to choose how they express themselves in accordance with their faith and have the right to move freely in society.

The international community cannot consider these recent directives as isolated decisions. The Taliban have taken other actions that limit the human rights of women and girls.

These include their rights to education, work and freedom of movement, opinion and expression through restrictions on unaccompanied travel, participation in the workforce, and ability to express themselves openly.

These decisions contradict repeated Taliban assurances to respect and protect the human rights of all Afghans.

All Afghans should be able to enjoy their fundamental human rights. These rights are indivisible and inalienable, expressed in international human rights law, and endorsed by all members of the United Nations.

We call on the Taliban to reconsider decisions which constrain the right of women and girls to make their own choices, gain an education, work, and participate equally in society.

We will continue to judge the Taliban on their actions, not their words.

The Australian Workers’ Union says this week’s wool industry appeal for Pacific Island workers to be used to fill a supposed worker shortfall is just another attempt to undercut pay and conditions using cheap imported labour.

The wool industry claims to have identified a workforce shortage of 500 shearers and 500 shed hands, and wants to use Pacific Islands workers in what it hopes will be the start of a steady pipeline of easily exploitable workers.

AWU National Secretary Dan Walton said the union was not convinced there was a genuine worker shortage.

“Despite the ongoing claims by the Shearing Contractors Association of Australia and some woolgrowers of a labour shortage, the fact is the Australian flock has been shorn year after year,” Mr Walton said.

“It was successfully shorn right through the Covid pandemic, and it can be shorn now.

“The Shearing Contractors Association and the same wool growers just don’t want to pay the current market rate, which is 15% above award, simply because they have not been able to flood the market with cheap labour.

“They should stop looking overseas and instead work to attract Aussie workers by offering fair pay and conditions, and proper training.” 

Mr Walton said while the AWU had backed the Pacific Australian Labour Mobility (PALM)  scheme’s use as a safeguard against wage theft and worker exploitation in the horticulture industry, it had raised strong concerns to the Agriculture Department about its unsuitability for the wool industry.

And he said that far only one shearing contractor had applied to become an approved PALM scheme employer.

“The AWU will be closely looking at this approved employer/contractor to ensure that they are properly training these workers and ensuring that any approved employer/contractor meets their obligations regarding labour-market testing under the PALM scheme, and they haven’t so far.”

THE EXTREME RAINFALL and flooding once again inundating parts of Queensland is yet another wake up call about the escalating risks of climate change, which is driving more frequent disasters, experts say. 

Heavy rainfall, which has broken May records in some areas, is sweeping the state, marking Queensland’s second major flood emergency this year. 

Climate Council Head of Research, Dr Simon Bradshaw said:

“With climate change increasing the frequency and severity of extreme weather disasters, there is greater chance of these devastating events happening in rapid succession, with little time for communities to recover.

“As India and Pakistan swelter through an extraordinarily severe heatwave and California braces for another horror fire season, Australia continues its year of record rainfall and floods. All our weather is happening in the context of climate change, in an atmosphere made warmer, wetter and more energetic through the burning of coal, oil and gas.

“Queensland is the nation’s most vulnerable state when it comes to extreme weather. Five of Australia’s top ten most-at-risk federal electorates are in Queensland. Between 2010 and 2019, Queenslanders suffered more than double the extreme weather disaster losses of any other state or territory.

“Any government that is serious about protecting Australian communities from worsening disasters must ensure that Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions plummet this decade.”

Former Commissioner Queensland Fire & Emergency Services and member of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action (ELCA), Lee Johnson, said:

“Emergency services are being hammered by the increasing frequency and severity of these events. Local communities in Queensland are being expected to step up, again and again, even when they’ve just experienced the horrendous floods we saw just a few months ago.

“After the horrific Black Summer, and now the two catastrophic flooding events so far this year, the lack of Government initiative towards disaster preparedness and reducing emissions has reached an absolutely unacceptable point.

“It is only through the swift and deep reduction of emissions, along with putting communities first, that we can avoid the worst effects of climate change. We’ve sadly seen more loss of life, homes destroyed and businesses wrecked, and yet the Morrison Government has no actual plan to drastically reduce emissions and conduct a national risk assessment of what climate change means for Australians.

“We need to see our leaders stepping up to protect communities and properly resource our emergency services. Failing to rapidly and deeply reduce our emissions will severely increase risks to Australian lives and livelihoods, communities and ecosystems. We must do our fair share to tackle the climate emergency.”

The Climate Council recommends Australia triple its efforts and aim to reduce its national emissions by 75 percent by 2030, and reach net zero by 2035.